Title:

Seed Germination

Problem Scenario:

I wanted to research if nitrogen treated water would accelerate the speed of seed germination because, in New Hampshire, only 6 Kg of nitrogen per hectare falls in the forests. I wanted to know at what levels would be too much or too little for the seeds to handle. I also had the question "If we had more nitrogen planted, or more nitrogen falling in the area, would the seeds that fall have accelerated germination from higher levels of nitrogen?" I also asked the question: "Is there such thing as adding too much nitrogen to seeds?" In my experiment I will answer these questions.

Broad Question:

What causes accelerated seed germination?

Specific Question:

Does nitrogen treated water accelerate seed germination?

Hypothesis:

I believe that the water with the least amount of nitrogen will have the same growth rate as the on with the highest amount.

Graph of Hypothesis:

I think that all three of the levels of nitrogen will grow the same amount over the course of time.

Variables

Independent Variable:

Number of seeds per plastic bag, amount of water

Dependent Variables:

Nitrogen amount

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Seed, Pot, Amount of water, Water

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation:

Nitrogen
Root
Fertilizer
Above ground growth

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General Plan:

I will put the seeds in plastic bags wrapped in paper towels soaked in water that is treated with nitrogen. I will have different bags that measure different levels of nitrogen.I can assure that it will not be disrupted by anyone or any thing. Basically I will be measuring if nitrogen treated water will effect the germination of a seed. I will be basing the the nitrogen amount on how much nitrogen falls in the area of New Hampshire.

Potential Problems And Solutions

I could miss the time space between seed germination and growth.I could also mess up my measurements of water too.

Safety Or Environmental Concern

Someone could possibly drink the nitrogen treated water but that wouldn't happen because i will be immediately pouring the water on the paper towels.

Experimental Design

What is your experimental unit?

Seeds

Number Of Trials:

3 trials

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

5 seeds per container

Number of Observations:

3 times

When data will be collected?:

The data will be collected on February 8th.

Resources and Budget Table

items	number	where	amount
Plastic bags	3	home	0.00
seeds	2 or 3 packages	Lowe's	1.00
Nitrogen	.003g	Mr. Biche	0.00
Water	4.8mL	faucet	0.00
poster board	1	Mr. Biche	5.00
paper towels	2 sheets	home	0.00

Detailed Procedure

1)I will mix 3.125 Grams of nitrogen into 100mL of water, 6.25 Grams of nitrogen into 100mL of water, and 12.5 Grams of nitrogen into 100mL of water.
2)I will soak two 7x7cm squares of paper towel in the water.
3)I will put five seeds in between the two paper towels and place them in plastic bags.
4)I will wait a series of days while checking the growth daily.
5)Record data.
6)Put data together and graph it.

Diagram:

This drawing shows the 5 seeds in each plastic bag. Each bag is being treated with a different amount of nitrogen.

Photo List:

Take picture of bried blood in the water
Take picture of the seeds in the bags
Take picture of the amount of water
Take picture of the germinated seed

Time Line:

Begin experiment 2/4
End experiment 3/1
Analysis done 3/7
Discussion/background 3/15
Wiki Complete 3/15
Make posters 3/16
Finish poster 3/22
Practice 3/22
Kms Science Fair 3/29

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Data Table

Data for lengths of sprouts	Nitrogen amount per 100mL of water

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Date: 2/12/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: .7cm, .3cm, .7cm, .6cm, 5cm 6.25g: .6cm, 0cm, 0cm, .1cm, .1cm 3.125g: .5cm, .4cm, .7cm, .8cm, .6cm
Date: 2/13/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.3cm, .8cm, .8cm, 0cm, .6cm 6.25g: 1cm, 2cm, 1.7cm, 1.2cm, 1.6cm 12.5g: .9cm, 1.1cm, 1cm, .6cm, 1.3cm
Date: 2/14/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.4cm, 1.4cm, 1.5cm, 1.5cm, .7cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.2cm, 1.7cm, .7cm, 1.5cm 3.125g: 3cm, 2.2cm, 3cm, 1.9cm, 2.3cm
Date: 2/15/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.5cm, 1.5cm, 1.3cm, 1.5cm, .8cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.1cm, .6cm, 1.5cm, 1.6cm 3.125cm: 2.1cm, 2.5cm, 1.3cm, 2.5cm, 4cm
Date: 2/16/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm, .8cm, 1cm, 1.3cm, 1.3cm 6.25g: 2cm, 3.1cm, 2.6cm, 2.6cm, 3.5cm 3.125g: 1.3cm, 1.7cm, .8cm, 0cm, 1cm
Date:2/17/13 Shoot Growth: 0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm, .6cm, .8cm, 1cm, 1.1cm 6.25g: .8cm, 1.3cm, 1.6cm, 0cm, 1cm 3.125g: 3.2cm, 3.2cm 2.1cm, 3.1cm, 2.6cm
Date:2/18/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm, 1.3cm, 1.2cm, .6cm, 1.1cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1cm, 1.2cm, 1.1cm, 1.3cm 3.125g: 2.8cm, 2.7cm, 2.2cm, 2.9cm, 3.2cm
Date: 2/19/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 3.2cm, 1.8cm, 2cm, 2.8cm, 2.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, .7cm, 1cm, 1.4cm, 1.6cm 3.125g: 1.1cm, .6cm, .9cm, .3cm, 1.1cm
Date: 2/20/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1cm, 1.2cm, .9cm, .7cm, 1.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.4cm, 1.8cm, .9cm, 1.1cm 3.125g: 1.9cm, 2.4cm, 3.3cm, 3.2cm, 2.1cm
Date: 2/21/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.2cm, 1.1cm, .7cm, 1cm, 1.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, .9cm, 1.1cm, 1.4cm, 1.2cm 3.125g: 2.2cm, 2.9cm, 2.8cm, 3.2cm, 2.8cm
Date: 2/22/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1cm, 1.1cm, 1cm, 1.2cm, 1.3cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.1cm, 1.5cm, 1.8cm, 1.9cm 3.125g: 3.2cm, 2.1cm, 3cm, 2.8cm, 2.9cm
Date: 2/23/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm, 1.2cm, 1.3cm, 1.4cm, 1.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.5cm, 1.1cm, 1.8cm, 1.9cm 3.125g: 3.2cm, 3.6cm, 2.8cm, 2.1cm, 2.9cm
Date: 2/24/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm, 1.2cm, 1.3cm, 1.4cm, 1.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.8cm, 1.1cm, 1.5cm, 1.9cm 3.125g: 2.8cm, 3.6cm, 2cm, 2.9cm, 2.9cm
Date: 2/25/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: .9cm, 1.3cm, 1.4cm, 1.3cm, 1.2cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.8cm, 1.9cm, 1.3cm, 1.6cm 3.125g: 3.9cm, 2.4cm, 2.8cm, 3.5cm, 2.9cm
Date: 2/26/13 Shoot Growth:0cm Root Growth: 12.5g: 1.1cm,.9cm, 1.4cm, 1.2cm, 1.4cm 6.25g: 0cm, 1.3cm, 1.8cm, 2.4cm, 2.3cm 3.125g: 3.5cm, 3.1cm, 2.5cm, 2.6cm, 3.4cm

Graph

This my graph of the averages from my samples. The orange line represents the sample of 5 seeds treated with 3.125 grams of nitrogen. The purple line represents the 5 averages of the samples from 6.25 grams of nitrogen. Then the blue line represents the averages from the 12.5 gram samples.

Photos

This is my nitrogen sample of 12.5 Grams.

This is my nitrogen sample of 6.25 Grams.

This is my nitrogen sample of 3.125 Grams.

Results

In this experiment, I measured the growth of seed under the effect of nitrogen. The seed sample with the least amount of nitrogen, 3.125 grams, is the seed sample that had the most growth. The seed sample with the middle amount of nitrogen, 6.25 grams, had the least growth, and the most amount of nitrogen, 12.5 grams, had the middle amount of growth on the graph. At first sample 3.125g had an upward, steady growth, but then it leveled off. The other sample 12.5g had a little bit of an upward point in the first couple of days but then it spiked upward and went down. After that it leveled off. The next sample 6.25g had a steady upward line then it leveled off. After that it dipped gown very slightly and then it went up and leveled off.

Conclusion

My hypothesis said that the seeds would not be effected by different nitrogen levels. Based in my data, I reject my hypothesis. When the seeds were first put into the bags, they didn't show any difference in growth. As time went on, the different levels of nitrogen effected the plant growth. As of now, or the end of the experiment, the sample with the least amount of nitrogen grew the most. My data suggest that amounts of nitrogen can change the growth rate of seed germination.

Discussion

I believe, with the data I received, I was able to answer the question that I had given myself and even more. The only thing that could have been changed about my experiment was that I should have included a sample of seeds with no nitrogen. That would have given me more to compare to but my experiment still came out well. My experiment did come to a halt at one point though. After awhile my samples stopped growing for a little bit. That was more towards the end of the experiment though and it didn't effect my data. The number of seeds per bag was my independent variable and the amount of nitrogen per bag was my dependent variable. The connection of my dependent and my independent variable is that they are both inside of the bag. The dependent variable is used to treat the independent variable.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

This might help people who are trying to grow plants. If they know that they don't necessarily need to use fertilizer when the seed is just germinating, then they won't need to waste money on fertilizer, or what i used, dried blood. If they want to get a head start on germinating their plants, then they can use treated soil, but it isn't necessary. In a tough economy people are looking to save money and when some people's hobbies include gardening or growing plants, this could be a useful piece of information.

Background Research

References

Abstract

My experiment tested if different levels of nitrogen would effect seed germination, or, the breaking through of roots. I did this because I was curious about if fertilizer was necessary for seed germination. In my investigation, I came to the conclusion that fertilizer, or what I used, dried blood does accelerate the seed germination. Although it does help, it is possible to give too much nitrogen to the plant. To figure this out, I planted 5 seeds in bags with different levels of nitrogen and measured the daily growth of them for sixteen days. I then took my results and put them on a graph.